Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Daemons Discuss: Podcast - Take 4! | Witches in the All Souls Trilogy vs. Witches in the World We Live In

Take 4 - The One With the Witches.

Description: Time to talk about Diana's people! The Witches! In A Discovery of Witches, witches either fell into the category spell-casters, or elemental witches. Turns out there were more types of witches (weavers!), as there are many types in the 'realm' we live in. We discuss the pagan practices that Deborah Harkness may have drawn from when she imagined the All Souls Trilogy. What is myth and what is fact when it comes to neo-pagan belief systems? Let's discuss!

SPOILER ALERT! We (The Daemons) approach this podcast with an assumption that the listener has read The All Souls Trilogy, including A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. If you haven't, and you don't mind, we certainly don't mind! :) Let's do this.

1. Show notes:

For newcomers to the All Souls Trilogy:
We'll start with the basics: The books in discussion are A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of NightThe Book of Life. Together they make The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.
- Our Daemon Guidesto the All Souls Trilogy are available for download: ADOW, SON, TBOL
- If you'd like a ready-reference from the author herself, be sure to download the All Souls Real-Time Reading companion (free e-book at online booksellers via Penguin and Headline books).
- Deborah Harkness usually conducts a real-time reading on her Facebook Page (starting in September), and shares her posts across social media. Check out her website for all of her social media links, and of course all that she has to offer her readers!
- To see what's available on the web as far as the All Souls universe fandom, check our links page.

* If you are interested in Wicca for your own practice, Val suggests going local. Reach out to local gatherings in your area (if there are any available). Decide if it's the correct path for you; you are the only one who can decide. There are different traditions within Wicca, it'll also be good to research. Like any other religion, practices vary! For more on Wicca you can check this website: Wicca for the rest of us. It's a good practical resource and a suitable starting point.

* Agnes Sampson (02:34). Mentioned in the All Souls Trilogy, read about her --> here

* Coven - Explained in the trilogy as a group or gathering of witches, but here's a good link on what it is to modern day witches (hint: it's the same!): http://bluemoonwicca.org/coven.html

*Neopagan defined: Modern Paganism, also known as Contemporary Paganism and Neopaganism, is a group of new religious movements influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. Although they do share similarities, contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all.

* Polytheistic defined: adjective 1. pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to polytheism, the doctrine that there is more than one god or many gods.

* Three fold rule: Formally known as the Rule of Three or The Law of Return. Read about them here.

* Paganism defined: relating to the worship or worshipers of any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim.

* Celtic defined: Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, comprises the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age people of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts the British and Irish Iron Age.

* Druids - we really can't go on about this that much with confidence, because as we said in the episode, there are actually neodruids (as there are neocelts)! Hopefully this site will provide some clarification: http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/druid-beliefs

Featuring Ike; he can be heard at 20:11

* The term "Fluffy Bunny" defined, if you were wondering (15:31), this Wikipedia page defined it for us ... who knew there was a Wiki on it?! Anyway, it says: "The term "Fluffy Bunny" is used as a derogatory term within the contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to refer to practitioners whose adherence to the faith is perceived as being superficial and dominated by consumerist values." You can read the whole page --> here.

* Karma - As Val explained, she calls the "Law of Return," or "Rule of Three," Karma, because this way she doesn't have to explain the specifics to people all of the time. People in general understand the word "Karma."

* Gramerye, (32:32) mentioned in both Shadow of Night and The Book of Life as a way to put a spell down in words from a weaver so other witches can follow the spell. Actual definition --> here.

* Discussers, thanks for your answers to the open question: "Because of the All Souls Trilogy..." ... you fill in the blank. Thanks to Jennifer, Aly and Milana! One of our Discussers is Aly! You'll remember her from this post: Yoga and the All Souls Trilogy. Find her on Instagram. Milana ... our new fan (and author), can be found ---> here. For people reading this, you can answer that question below (scroll down) and also sign up to be a Discusser!

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Jeff Greenstein: "When
Marta & David & Jeff & I did 'Dream On', we used to spend a
lot of time thinking about titles, because they were on-screen at the
top of each episode. On "Friends", we decided that was a waste of time.
We figured, why not name each episode after the thing that people will
ostensibly be talking about around the water-cooler the next day?"